Silver Waves ‘EP2’ | EP Review

The sound of a post-apocalyptic future has arrived with Silver Waves‘ ‘EP2’, which brings a challenging listen as it conjures images of a world where nations have turned on each other with devastating effect.

‘III’ is haunted with enough sinister sounds to give the thing that goes bump in the night goosebumps, as cries of an imprisoned, tortured soul reach out to anyone who will listen and drones test the stability of their mind. There’s a brief respite around six minutes in, but while hope leads us toward a light, it’s snuffed out and we cascade toward a terrifying crescendo.

It would be nice to think that ‘IV’ would be light relief after eight minutes of impending doom, but it seems we took the wrong path at that fork in the road. A dark synth refrain repeats over an industrial soundtrack until it implodes around the five-minute mark with an eerie shaft of light that brings reassurance, albeit with spikes of sound to keep you watchful. As a hypnotic cry emerges, you know that this is somewhere you wouldn’t want to spend much more time. Somehow, though, you’re drawn into the repetitive machinery of sounds — and when it all fades to the dull beat of a warning siren, you’ll need to check your body to ensure that your faculties are still intact.

A self-described ‘cold world of distant siren calls and minefield synths’, Dylan Mallet’s portrayal of the future makes 1984 seem like a holiday camp.